Laurie Parkinson, who’s lived in Laurel Hills all his life, is a gay sheet metal worker who’d rather be a gay hairdresser. Wheat Dupuis, who’s also gay, is the scion of one of Laurel Hill’s wealthiest families. He’d rather grow grapes than become CFO of Dupuis International. Laurie wakes one morning to discover his family gone and his town decimated by a bacteria that has lain dormant for millennia, incased in ice. With the melting of the ice caps, the bacteria is released, and mankind faces a pandemic that could surpass the Black Plague. Wheat and his family are on their way to safety when the unthinkable happens and he’s left behind. Laurie knows of a bunker in the woods outside Laurel Hill, where he intends to take refuge. On the way there, Laurie finds and rescues Wheat. Can two such dissimilar men work together through a pandemic to find their families ... and possibly find love, as well?

Pandemic

“I don’t know what we’re going to find once we leave here,” Laurie had said that first morning. As they repacked the bugout bag, they talked about family, friends, and what the future might have held for them if this disaster hadn’t happened.


Finally, Wheat glanced up at him. “You’re right about conserving what we’ve got. I’m afraid there won’t be much once we get to my family’s cottage. We don’t usually go there until later in the summer.”


“I don’t think so, although I can’t tell for certain. A local woman comes in to do the cooking and cleaning when we’re there. Normally she’d stock the fridge and pantry, but this is too early in the season, and she wouldn’t be expecting us. And then, of course, this happened.”


“What about last year’s supplies?”


“No. Mother gave Mrs. Rodriguez permission to take whatever was still there.”


“Well, it makes sense. It would spoil before you went back.”


Chapter 36